Luciano Arroyo of Calvary Chapel is face down as he competes with Jesse Vasquez of Excelsior Charter in the 138 weight class during the 2019 CIF Southern Section Masters wrestling meet at Cerritos College, February 16, 2019. Vasquez went on to win the match.
Steven Georges, Contributing Photographer

The Southern California News Group honors the region’s top winter sports athletes:

SoCal Varsity Awards section is in Monday, April 1editions of SCNG newspapers.

Luciano Arroyo of Calvary Chapel is face down as he competes with Jesse Vasquez of Excelsior Charter in the 138 weight class during the 2019 CIF Southern Section Masters wrestling meet at Cerritos College, February 16, 2019. Vasquez went on to win the match.
Steven Georges, Contributing Photographer

Season recap: The name on Vasquez’s wrestling singlet has changed each season. The results have not.

Vasquez, who competed for Excelsior Charter in Victorville this season, became just the 25th boys wrestler to win three California state titles when he claimed the 138-pound crown.

His dominance during the season is why he was selected the SoCal boys Wrestler of the Year.

Vasquez wrestled for St. John Bosco his freshman season and eked out a 6-5 decision in the 113-pound state championship match. At that time, Vasquez was just the 16th boys wrestler to win a state championship as a freshman. He transferred to Santiago in Corona as a sophomore and also moved up a few weight classes. That did not affect Vasquez’s speed or agility on the mat, as he won the 132-pound state title, including a 10-0 major decision in the championship match.

Vasquez transferred to Excelsior Charter for his junior year and finished with a spotless record. He continued to use his superb technique and aggression to score quick pins and technical falls. Most of the points scored against Vasquez came when he intentionally let his opponent escape.

At the CIF Southern Section’s Masters Meet, Vasquez wrestled four matches and pinned each of his opponents in under a minute. He was selected the meet’s MVP of the lower-weight classes. Vasquez rolled through the field to reach the 138-pound final at the CIF State Championships. He never trailed in the title match against Gilroy’s Chase Saldate and won with a 6-3 decision.

Vasquez also was the recipient of the David Schultz Champion of Champions Memorial Trophy, which is given annually to the most outstanding wrestler at the CIF State championship meet.

Vasquez will have the opportunity to join a selected group next season. Only three boys wrestlers have won four California state titles: Bakersfield’s Darrell Vasquez (1999-2002) and Clovis’ Justin Mejia (2014-17) and Seth Nevills (2015-18).

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ALL-VARSITY TEAM

Omar Alvarez, Victor Valley

Randy Arriaga, Capistrano Valley

Darien Banuelos, Carson

Fernando Barreto, Rowland

Valor Buck, Servite

Gabriel Carranza, Victor Valley

Ryan Cosio, Temecula Valley

Savion Dixon, Paloma Valley

Ethen Erickson, Carter

Guillermo Escobedo, Bishop Amat

Yoshiya Funakoshi, West Torrance

Baron Gaunt, West Torrance

Ben Gould, Valencia

Ethan Gould, Esperanza

Nathan Haas, St. John Bosco

Nico Hanessian, Simi Valley

Jacob Hansen, Royal

Paul Lee, South Torrance

Brandon Leon, Roosevelt

Kobe Lepe, San Fernando

Chang Lo, Long Beach Poly

Josh Medina, Servite

Korey Mendoza, Yucaipa

Trey Munoz, Villa Park

Aaron Nagao, Esperanza

Marcos Nottingham, Wilson

Christian Nunez, Bishop Amat

Erich Osteen, Chaminade

Marcos Polanco, Bishop Amat

Vinny Reyes, Redondo

Joseph Rodriguez, Paramount

Zeth Romney, Chaminade

Mike Ruiz, Servite

Sonny Santiago, St. John Bosco

Michael Scarponi, Temecula Valley

Gabriel Schumm, Citrus Hill

Diego Sheng, Peninsula

Andrew Silva, Servite

Jacob Smith, Etiwanda

Jonovan Smith, Birmingham

Ryan Spangler, Oak Hills

Cael Valencia, St. John Bosco

Jason Valencia, Northview

William Van Goeben, Walnut

Jesse Vasquez, Excelsior Charter

Luka Wick, San Marino

Max Wilner, Fountain Valley

Tristen Wilson, Servite

SoCal Varsity Awards section is in the Monday, April 1 edition of all SCNG newspapers.

About the section: The award winners and teams were selected by the high school sports reporters for the Southern California News Group, which includes the Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Riverside Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star News, Daily Breeze, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Daily Bulletin, San Bernardino Sun, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts.

Eric-Paul Johnson has been covering high school sports for The Press-Enterprise since 1999, specializing in football, girls volleyball, girls water polo and softball. He is a stat junkie who created and maintains a record book for high school sports in the Inland Empire. Eric-Paul is a lifelong resident of Riverside and graduated from Bethel Christian and Cal Baptist. Eric-Paul enjoys going to concerts and twice has worked as a photographer at the Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival.